Five Persons Charged to Court on Fraudulent Claims, Medicaid Expansion program delayed and other news you may have missed

Five Persons accused in a $20 million Insurance Fraud Scheme

The Department of Justice have charged a former fraud investigator at Anthem along with four others to court on fraudulent claims charges after they were arrested on Tuesday.The fraudulent scheme involved coercing patients to two clinics in California to receive free cosmetic operations that the patient’s insurance did not cover. The schemers then acquired the information of the patients’ insurance and deceptively charged them a sum total of $20 million for services they did not provide.

$8 million were collected by the schemers o those claims when they were indicted. All five persons have been charged with 13 counts of healthcare fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud.Medicaid Expansion Plans Have been put on Hold in Virginia

People advocating for Medicaid expansion in Virginia experienced a setback as the state Senate has brought forward the decision on if to expand the program to next week.

The delay came after there were rumors that Republicans in the Chamber had struck a deal that would have given the proposal enough votes that would allow the bill be passed, as the House of Delegates had last month passed a bill that included Medicaid expansion.

The debate to pass the bill has now been shifted to the 30th of May to give lawmakers enough time to reflect on the proposal before coming to a conclusion.

It is expected that 300,000 people in Commonwealth would have their health covered by the Medicaid program if the expansion is approved.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee has praised Medicare, as well as the Medicaid on Opioid Bills

The introduction of almost 24 bills that would address the opioid problem has been applauded by the Democratic and Republic leaders of the Senate Finance Committee.The introduction of the bill marks a huge step in the legislative process of the Senate Committee, and has laid the foundation to stop the serious epidemic.